Device for turning an umbrella pole



1954 v. MILITANO DEVICE FOR TURNING AN UMBRELLA POLE Filed Nov. 14, 1950 INVENTOB Vincent Malziaiw BY 'I'TORNEY United States Patent DEVICEFOR TURNING AN 7 UMBRELLA. POLE VincenfMilitano, 'Levittown, N. Y., assignor to The iFinkel UmbrellaFrame Company, Inc New'York, N. Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationNoveniber 14fl1950,SerialNo. 195,634

41Claims. *(Cl. 287-:-91)

.known. Asheretofore constructed in ordertozturn such umbrellas to, provideshade asthesun changes its'position, itwas necessary to manually grasp .the umbrella'poleand .turnit. As beach zandegarden umbrellas :zare large and heavy, turning them inthis manner-isbothsarduous and cult.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device for turningaa polepparticularly :anmmbrell-azpole, which device is simple andcompact in design and therefore relatively inexpensive to "manufacture, is'efiicient in operationin that it effects turning movement of the pole with the exercise .oflittleenergybythe operator'oruser, :and is relatively inconspicuous .and .hence .does .not :detrimentally affect the appearance of the umbrella on which it is'mounted.

.Other objects and advantages ofthisiinvent-ion will be apparent from the following detaileddescription thereof.

.'.In accordance with this invention a'housingrisfixedly mounted-on'a rotatably mounted pole, such *asan umr'brellapole, this housing being positioned atareadily accessible point on.the,.pole, e ..g., in the case of a garden umbrella associated with atable at'apoint just above the table. .The housing carries a springpressed handlewhich :normally lies contiguous to and .in alignment with the pole where it is relatively inconspicuous but readily accessible. When in this position the handle locks the rotatable pole against turning movement. When it is desired to turn the pole, a button is pressed releasing the handle, unlocking the pole so that it can now turn and causing the handle to assume a position at right angles to the pole where it can readily be grasped by the user and the pole turned to any desired position. The handle is then moved to again lock the pole against turning and assume its relatively inconspicuous position.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated on the drawing, the invention is shown incorporated in a device for turning the supporting pole of a tiltable umbrella and the present description will be confined to the present illustrated embodiment of the invention. It will be understood, however, that the novel features and improvements are susceptible to other applications, such, for example, as the turning of other poles or shafts, etc. Hence, the scope of this invention is not confined to the embodiment herein described.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification and showing, for purposes of exemplification, a preferred form of this invention without limiting the claimed invention to such illustrative instance,

Figure l is a perspective view of a tiltable garden umbrella embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical section through the portion of the umbrella pole carrying the pole turning device of this invention;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of an umbrella pole having the turning device of this invention thereon; and

Figure 4 is a plan view of the turning device of this invention.

Referring first to Figure 1 of the drawing, indicates :the rcanopy of a conventional rtiltable rumbrella :carried =:by an upper :pole 11 tpivoted .at 121toaslower1pole .13 which.is;rotatably:mounted in .a .hollow base pole .14. The latter pole :passes through table 15' and .has its :lower end fixedzin a heavy .block or casting 16. Thus, the block or castinglfi and'stable '15 support hollow pole :14 which initurn provides a .bearingsupport for-pole 13,

:in'which support thiszpole can turn. freely when not locked thereto, as hereinafter more fully described.

Keyed or: otherwise securelyifixedto the top of hollow po1e:14lis:a collar-17. Theunderside vof'thiscollar about the circumference thereof is provided with spaced matches '18 :for receiving projection 19'on arm or handle .20. .A-housing.21:is"secured.asby.pin 22 or otherwiseto pole 13. This housing is positioned on this pole so that it'restsron the top of collar.l7 which 'providesa bearing support for:the base ofhousing 21and supports'the latter during itsirotary or turningmovement.

Housing 21 is in the form of .a collar encircling pole 13andzhaving a lateral extension 23 shaped as shown in Figure 4. Mounted .in this extension is a pin 24 on which .handle 20 is pivotallvmounted. The upper porationrof'handle 20 is formed with a lug or projection 25, the function of which will be hereinafterdescribed. Also an=opening 26 .is formedin the portion of this handle in tthe locality of the pivotpin --24 in whichopening a coil spring '27.-is'disposed extending about the pivot pin 24.

Coil :spring'27 has one end 28 seated in a'slot 29 in handle 20. The otherend 30 extends through an opening.31;passing throughhousing 21 andthe wall of hollow pole 13. :In'this way a substantial lengthof the free end of the'coil ispring' extends within the hollowxpole 13 permitting location of the handle close to the pole :14 in a iturningmovementzof handle 20 about-pivot pin .24.

"Disposed above pivot-pin 24:is'an elongated opening 32 :in the lateral extension 23. This 'opening extends 'from side wall 35 to a point short of the opposite side walll'mt. Slidably mounted in this opening is a'button =m'ember 35 having :a notch 36 .in its underside and an opening 37rin-its top.

A pin 38 extends through the top of-housing -21 into opening 37. This pin permits limited sliding movement of button member 35 against the action of a spring 39 which is confined in the closed end of opening 32 by the button member 35. Thus, the button member 35 can be moved inwardly compressing spring 39 until the end wall 40 of opening 37 abuts the pin 38. When moved to this position notch 36 is aligned with projection 25, permitting this projection to enter notch 36 so that under the influence of coil spring 27 the handle 20 moves into a horizontal position. In the normal position of the button member 35, shown in Figure 3, projection 25 abuts this button member, hence preventing movement of handle 20 about its pivot 24. Stop 41 abuts pin 38 when the parts are in the position shown in Figure 3 and limits the movement of this button member under the influence of spring 39 in a left-hand direction viewing Figure 3. Should it be desired to replace the spring 39 or the button member 35 this can readily be accomplished by removing pin 38.

Handle 20 and associated mechanism, as shown in Figure l, is disposed just above the table 15 where it is readily accessible to those sitting around the table.

When it is desired to turn the umbrella canopy it is only necessary to press button member 35 and move it inwardly. As soon as notch 36 is aligned with projection 25, handle 20 springs automatically to a horizontal position under the influence of coil spring 27, end 30 of this spring moving further into the hollow pole 13, i. e., to the left in Figure 2 as the spring partially uncoils. The end of this spring is made long enough so that it never leaves the interior of pole 13. When the handle 20 is in the horizontal position it can readily be grasped and pole 13 moved to position the canopy as desired. Once the desired position is reached, the handle 20 is turned downwardly about its pivot 24 and the projection 19 is moved into a notch 18 aligned with the projection 19. This locks the umbrella pole 13 in the position to which it has been moved, since pole 14 is fixed, i. e., not rotatable, and when projection 19 enters a notch 18 pole 13 can no longer turn relative to pole 14. Movement of handle 20 downwardly restores the coil spring 27 to the tensioned condition under which it is maintained when the handle 20 is in the position shown in Figure 2.

Thus, it will be noted this invention provides a simple compact device for turning an umbrella pole, which device is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, is effective to turn the pole utilizing little energy for this purpose and is relatively inconspicuous.

Since different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope of this invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. What is claimed is:

1. In a device for turning an umbrella pole, comprising, in combination, a housing adapted to be secured to said umbrella pole and having a lateral extension, a pivot pin in said extension, a handle mounted for pivotal movement on said pin, a coil spring on said pin constructed and arranged so that it tends to move said handle about said pivot pin, a slidable button member disposed above said pivot pin, said button member being provided with a notch and a projection on said handle, said projection when said handle is disposed substantially vertically abutting said button member so that movement of said handle about said pivot pin under the influence of said spring cannot take place, and said notch in said button member being so located that upon movement of said button member it is moved into position to receive said projection permitting the handle to move to a. substantially horizontal position under the influence of said spring.

2. In a device for turning an umbrella pole, comprising, in combination, a housing adapted to be secured to said umbrella pole and having a lateral extension, a pivot pin in said extension, a handle mounted for pivotal movement on said pin and having a projection thereon, a coil spring on said pin constructed and arranged so that it tends to move said handle about said pivot pin, and a spring pressed slidable button member provided with a notch, said button member in one position being abutted by said projection on said handle and adapted to be slid so that said notch receives the projection permitting in the latter position movement of said handle under the influence of said spring.

3. In an umbrella, a fixed hollow pole, a second hollow pole mounted for turning movement in the said fixed hollow pole, a collar having notches about its periphery secured to the top of said fixed hollow pole, a housing on said second hollow pole arranged to turn relative to said collar, said collar providing a bearing support for said housing, a handle pivoted on said housing and having an extension thereon adapted when said handle is in a substantially vertical position contiguous to said fixed hollow pole to enter one of said notches and thus lock the housing and the second mentioned pole against turningmovement, a coil spring in said housing engaging said handle and tending to move said handle from said substantially vertical position to a horizontal position in which the said extension no longer engages one of said notches, a spring pressed slidable button member having a notch therein, and a projection on said handle arranged to abut said button member when said handle is in said substantially vertical position and thus prevent said handle from moving under the influence of said coil spring to said substantially horizontal position, said button member being movable to a position where the notch therein receives said projection on said handle whereupon the said handle moves to said substantially horizontal position under the influence of said coil spring.

4. In an umbrella construction as defined in claim 3, in which the coil spring has a free end extending within the said second hollow pole which free end is movable in said hollow pole as the said coil spring is partially uncoiled and recoiled, said free end being of a length such that it remains within said hollow pole throughout the partial uncoiling and recoiling of said coil spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 584,985 Carson June 22, 1897 599,245 Merrill Feb. 15, 1898 765,517 Smith July 19, 1904 1,413,463 Filor Apr. 18, 1922 1,449,395 Goetz Mar. 27, 1923 2,164,150 Brewster June 27, 1939 2,369,357 Kunz Feb. 13, 1945 2,377,301 Rolph May 29, 1945 2,453,936 Rallison Nov. 16, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,104 Great Britain July 30, 1898 

